by Dana Delamar
Ruggero clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the carpet. “Indirectly.”
Enrico felt himself relax, even as guilt overwhelmed him. It had never occurred to him that Ruggero might wish to visit his family. “Then you’ll have a vacation as soon as this is over.”
“The situation is more… dire than that.”
Enrico raised a brow. “How so?”
“My sister’s husband is dying, and she wants me to come visit.”
Damn. Why did the bad times always multiply? “Who do you trust to take your place?”
“No one. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”
“Be reasonable. What about Antonio?”
“Antonio is too green, and you are in severe danger. My sister is not.”
“I don’t want you to make a choice you can’t live with.”
Ruggero’s voice was crisp, a rebuke. “I will keep my vows: the ‘Ndrangheta and my don above all else.”
Enrico studied his guard, seeing the resolve on his face. He would not be a fool to put his trust in this man. “I apologize for insulting you with my doubts.” He brought the Glock out from under the desk and set it on top. Ruggero’s eyes followed the gun, but he didn’t look surprised to see it. “And I apologize for not treating you as a person with a life outside your job.”
Ruggero nodded, the anger leaving his face. “It would be foolish not to question me. And I cannot expect the don to attend to my needs. That’s my responsibility.”
“It’s mine. You aren’t a machine, Ruggero.” His voice softened on this last statement.
Ruggero took a chair in front of Enrico’s desk. “I would like to think I am.” He scrubbed his hand across his jaw, his fingers rasping against his early morning stubble. “I’ve failed to keep you safe. Again. The Andrettis are getting too close. It worries me.”
Enrico’s pulse sped up again. Ruggero, worried? Unprecedented. “Someone inside is working against me. Vincenzo admitted it. But who?”
“Between the falcon and now this, there are only three possibilities: me, Antonio, or your cousin. If you have eliminated Antonio and me as suspects, only Don Domenico is left.”
His stomach flipped over. He didn’t want to believe it. Dom. The person he loved and trusted most.
And then another possibility occurred to him. Who hated him more than anyone, aside from Carlo?
Franco Trucco. Fiammetta’s father.
It wouldn’t be hard for Trucco to learn what he needed to assist the Andrettis. Dom had warned him. He’d made a mistake showering Trucco with money, setting up scholarships for his remaining children, paying off the extensive renovations to his house. All the money in the world would never be enough. It would never bring Fiammetta back. It would never quiet the anger in Franco Trucco’s heart. Or the guilt in Enrico’s.
“What about Franco?”
“It’s possible, though more difficult for him.”
“But it is possible.”
Ruggero nodded. “You want him watched?”
“I do.”
“What about Don Domenico and Antonio?”
Enrico blew out a breath. “It’s got to be Trucco.”
Ruggero leaned forward. His voice was soft. “He has a most compelling motive, I agree. But he’s not the only one.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you die, childless, who stands to profit most?”
A chill washed through him. Dom. He’d inherit everything and his branch of the family would take over the cosca. “It cannot be. His blood is my blood.”
“We must consider every possibility.”
“And Antonio?”
Ruggero rubbed his chin with his fingertips. “He’s smart. And ambitious. I think he’d like to be don someday. But he looks to you as a father. I don’t think him likely. However, he is an outsider.”
Enrico smiled. “Anyone who’s not Calabrian is an outsider to you.”
“That doesn’t make it any less true. There’s a reason we choose only our own.” He paused. “There’s another possibility.”
Another? “Who?”
“Signora Andretti.”
Waves of heat and cold flashed through him. “No.”
“She held a gun on you several hours ago. If I hadn’t been there….”
Enrico shook his head. “Her husband tried to kill her. She was upset.”
“The whole thing could have been an act.”
“But she killed him.”
“She could have seen an opportunity.”
“For what?”
Ruggero shrugged. “To be more than a mid-level man’s wife. To be yours. Maybe even to bear you a child, then kill you and run the family in your stead.”
“Few women have ever headed a family.”
“But it’s happened.” Ruggero paused. “She certainly knows how to handle a gun.”
That detail did bother him. It was highly unusual for the women of his acquaintance.
“And Americans are ambitious. The women are practically men. And just as ruthless.”
“I don’t think Kate is that kind of woman.” But she’d hardly missed a beat, had she?
“She didn’t have to kill her husband. She could’ve left that to us.”
“It was too risky. Andretti almost got the gun back.”
Ruggero shrugged. “Still, the timing’s suspicious. She’s here for less than two days, and we have a security breach. I don’t want to overlook her.”
“I think you’re looking too hard.”
“And I think you’re in love.” The words were gentle, but the message was clear. When it came to Kate, he was blind.
He’d be stupid to ignore Ruggero. The guard was a man of few words, but those he spoke were always worth heeding. “All right.” He looked steadily at the man. “I want them all watched. I’m counting on you to solve this.”
“I will not fail you.”
“I trust that you won’t.” Enrico was about to say more when his mobile phone buzzed. He glanced at the display. “It’s Dom. I need to take this.”
Ruggero bowed and then left the study. Enrico waited for the door to close before answering. “What the hell happened?” Dom yelled when he heard Enrico’s voice.
“Vincenzo Andretti broke into my house. He tried to kill me and Kate. But she shot him.”
“Were you hurt?”
“Just some bruises, a mild concussion.”
“You could have been killed. And all over a woman. I told you this would come to no good.”
“At least he’s dead.”
Dom laughed without mirth. “You say that like it’s a good thing.”
“It is. He beat her and tried to rape her in front of me. He was not fit to live.”
“He was also an Andretti. Or have you forgotten?”
Enrico sighed. “I’ll figure something out.”
“The hell you will. This is going to cost. Immensely. And you will have to marry Delfina, as soon as possible, supposing Carlo and Dario still agree to that.”
“I will figure something else out.”
“Are you unable to hear me? There is no other solution. It’s marriage or it’s war.”
Enrico’s pulse quickened. “Then it’s war. I cannot marry her.”
Silence hung thick between them for several moments, then Dom said, “You’re forcing me to call for an election.”
His adrenaline ratcheted up, sending Enrico’s whole body into overdrive, his heart threatening to jump out of his chest. “Am I?”
“I have no other choice.”
Ruggero’s words came back with force. If you die, childless, who stands to profit most? Maybe this was Dom’s way of forcing the issue without having to kill Enrico. It was clever. And he’d just played into Dom’s hands if that was the case. “You don’t want to do that.”
“What else do you expect me to do? If I stand by and let you destroy this family, it’s not just your head that’s forfeit. Mine is too.”
Damn it. Mayb
e this wasn’t about Dom wanting to take over. Maybe this was about Dom protecting himself, protecting the family. Protecting Enrico. “There’s got to be another way.”
“I can’t think of one.” Dom paused. “Shall I speak to Carlo and Dario, to see if the offer is still on the table?”
Enrico damned himself as he nodded and hissed out the one word that meant the end to all his hopes. “Yes.”
CHAPTER 15
Oblivion. She needed it. Craved it.
Aided by Valium, Kate slept through the day and the following night in the guest room. Enrico had checked on her that evening, but she’d asked him to leave her alone. Though the sedative helped, menace and anxiety laced her dreams.
However, the next morning’s sun forced her to give up on sleep. Stripes of golden light streamed across the bed, and she stared at them in a haze.
She’d killed a man. Her husband.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away and swallowed the golf ball stuck in her throat. Vince hadn’t deserved to live. And he didn’t deserve to be mourned.
She hoped Enrico knew what he was doing. And she hoped she could trust him. That whole interaction with Fuente reeked of secrets.
Throwing the covers back, Kate rose. Time to find out what Enrico was hiding.
Kate headed toward the rear terrace of the house. Enrico hadn’t been at breakfast as she’d expected, and she’d found herself disappointed by his absence.
Not knowing what to do with herself, she’d decided to take a swim and soak up a little sun—as much as she could tolerate without burning.
She’d donned a black one-piece bathing suit and put on a white blouse over it. Just because Enrico wasn’t around, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t run into one of the guards. She had to go shopping soon; she felt strange raiding Antonella’s closet. Not that she’d ever step foot in that bedroom again. The carpet was undoubtedly still soaked with blood.
As she was crossing through the foyer to the French doors in the back, a loud thump came from down the hall. Then a moan, then a shout. “Merda!” It sounded like Enrico.
Kate poked her head in the door to his study. Enrico was cradling his head in his hands. “What’s wrong?”
He looked up when she spoke. “I lost a whole morning’s work. And now the bloody computer will not start up properly.”
“I could take a look if you’d like.”
He smiled. “I would be grateful.”
She took his chair, and he sat down on the edge of the desk next to her. Kate rebooted the machine, trying to ignore the feel of his eyes on her. She asked Enrico to translate a few words in the messages on the screen. “Do you mind if I restore the system to see if I can get stable operating system files? It won’t affect any data.”
He shrugged. “Do what you think best.”
As the computer went to work, Kate looked around his desk. “Do you have an external backup drive and restore discs?”
“I do not know.”
“Who maintains this system for you?”
He rubbed his cheek and looked away. “It was Fiammetta’s job.”
“Was? Where is she?”
His face reddened and his eyes grew moist. “She died in a car accident about six months ago.”
“You were close.”
He nodded. “She was my personal assistant. The daughter of my accountant. I had known her from when she was a young girl.”
Kate studied him. “You seem quite affected by her death still.”
He gazed at the books over her shoulder. “The accident was my fault.”
“How?”
“I was driving and I had been drinking. We were fighting.”
“You and Fiammetta?” When he didn’t say anything, she said, “She was more than just your assistant.”
He nodded, still not looking at her. “Loneliness can be a powerful seductress.”
Kate raised a brow. “It was loneliness that seduced you? It had nothing to do with her being a young woman?”
Enrico blushed, finally met her eyes again. “I missed Antonella. Fiammetta was concerned about me. When she suggested….” He trailed off. “I could not resist her.”
“Couldn’t or didn’t want to?”
All trace of warmth left his face. “Why does this matter?”
“I wonder if you’re not doing the same thing with me.”
He leaned forward, putting his hand over hers where it rested beside the keyboard. “I am not with you for the same reasons I was with Fiammetta.”
“Are you so sure? This house is a shrine to Antonella. There’s at least one picture of her in every room. You still have all her things. It’s like she just left for a brief trip and she’ll be back in a few days.”
His voice was hoarse when he replied. “I am moving past my grief.”
Kate sighed. “I don’t believe you.” She held his gaze for a few moments, not looking away until the computer beeped. The system restore was complete.
“I think I’ve fixed it. But your virus protection is out of date, and you’ve got to address that today.”
He looked chagrined, but happy to have the subject changed. “I think maybe I have been ignoring some things.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “You really don’t like to be bothered, do you?”
He smiled sheepishly, then met her eyes, his smile turning into something else. “I do when it is something I like, that I am interested in.” She followed his eyes. Yikes. He was getting an eyeful where her blouse had gaped open. The swimsuit was relatively modest, but she was still showing a lot more skin than she’d intended.
Pulling the thin silk of the blouse closed, she leaned back in the chair, ignoring his comment. “You also need an uninterruptable power supply, a surge protector, and of course the external backup drive. And you need someone to make sure your home network is secure.”
“Can you do all that?”
“I can. But could I get a little sun first?”
“No hurry.” His face brightened. “Would you mind if I joined you?”
She grinned at his excitement. “Not at all.”
He hopped off the desk, offering her a hand up from the chair. After she rose, he held her hand for a beat too long, looking at her closely, then slowly let go, his fingers brushing hers as they slid from his grasp. “I need to change clothes. And get something for you.”
“What?” she asked, as he waited for her to precede him out of the room.
“You will see.” He loped down the hall, then bounded up one of the staircases to the second floor. Kate continued out to the garden, the feel of his hand wrapped around hers lingering in her mind. Stop thinking about him. He’s still in love with his wife.
Kate settled herself on a lounge chair by the pool. A few minutes later, Enrico strolled out, wearing flip flops, black swim trunks, and an unbuttoned white shirt that revealed his muscular chest and abdomen. Kate caught herself staring as he approached, hoping her sunglasses hid her gaze. It took her a few seconds to register that he had a large, all black, woman’s sun hat in one hand and a bottle of sunscreen in the other. He held the hat out to her. “To protect your face.”
She reached out and took it. “Grazie.” She started to place it on her head, then hesitated. “This was Antonella’s too, wasn’t it?”
He nodded. “Go ahead.” He watched her don the hat, a flicker of something unrecognizable crossing his face. He tore his eyes away from her after a few seconds and busied himself with removing his shirt and pulling up another chair. He seemed to be avoiding her gaze, which gave her plenty of opportunity to admire his sleekly muscular body. She hadn’t seen him so unclothed in broad daylight before, and the view was one she couldn’t ignore.
Kate marveled at his beauty. There was no other word for it. He might be in his forties, but even in this light he seemed hardly a day over thirty-five. The way he looked, he could have posed for Michelangelo and made an even more striking David. Or he could do the modern-day version and pose in a
ds for underwear, cologne, or men’s couture. She watched as he took the sunglasses perched on his thick black hair and put them on.
Enrico finally looked over at her then. So the glasses aren’t just for sun protection. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but it felt like prying.
Instead, she looked around the well-manicured garden surrounding them. “Your estate is lovely,” she said. “You must be so happy living here. Well, at least when you’re not afraid for your life.”
“Grazie.” He looked around the garden for a moment. “Sometimes, yes, I am very happy living here.”
“But not today?”
He froze, almost imperceptibly, but she caught the sudden hitch in his shoulders and neck. He sighed. “A house is not a home unless there is a woman in it.”
“Will just any woman do?” she teased.
“You know what I meant.” He looked at her. “Someone special.”
There was too much want, too much need, filling his voice. She tried to brush it off with a lame attempt at a joke. “Well, you have me until Fuente says otherwise.”
“Kate, I wish—” He broke off, then started again, looking at the pool instead of her. “I would like you to consider this your home. For as long as you want.” His eyes sought hers.
It was her turn to look away. “That’s a pretty open-ended invitation.”
He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the chaise, turning until he was directly facing her. “I mean it. Now that your husband is gone, I see no reason why we could not… proceed.”
Kate’s belly clenched. She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest, clasping her hands around her shins. She needed to put more clothes on.
“Have I upset you?”
She rested her chin on her knees, then buried her face in them. She didn’t want him to see the flush rising in her cheeks. “No. It’s just—I can’t have sex with you right now. Not anyone.”
He chuckled. “I did not mean it like that. I want to get to know you. To court you. Anything else will be your decision. Always.”
God, kill me now. She was an idiot. How could she look at him again?
Silence hung between them for a few moments. Then he picked up the cordless phone on the table between their chairs. “Would you care for something to drink?”
